Drum

ABSTRACT

A drum or other musical percussion instrument made of a seamless cylindrical shell of an integral synthetic plastic, such as a methyl methacrylate resin, with a tone or sound modulator associated therewith comprising a one- or multi-part panel of similar transparent plastic material mounted for rotation about an axis parallel to a drum head and intersecting said shell with clearance therebetween and between the panel and the head, or heads, of the drum to permit adjustability of the panel into various angular positions relative to the plane of the head in order to modulate the sounds caused by playing on said head.

United States Patent 1191 Frigo et al.

[ DRUM [76] Inventors: Richard I. Frigo, 18 W. 224 16th 1 St., Villa Park, Ill. 60181; William F. Crowden, 2420 W. Berwyn Ave., Chicago,-Ill. 60625 [22] Filed: Sept. 8, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 287,349

Related us. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 103,752, Jan. 4, 1971, Pat. No.

1451 Feb. 12,1974

OTHER PUBLICATIONS Frederick, D. S. Acrylic Resins Find Industrial Application, In Chem. & Metall. Engr. 44(9):p. 468-471. Sept., 1937.

Primary ExaminerStephen J. Tomsky Assistant Examiner-John F. Gonzales Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Hill, Sherman, Meroni, Gross & Simpson [52] US. Cl. 84/411 [57] ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl. 61011 13/02 58 Field of Search 84/411, 374, 410 A drum or other muslcal Percussm Instrument made of a seamless cylindrical shell of an integral synthetic 5 References Cited plastic, such as a methyl methacrylate resin, with a UNITED STATES PATENTS tone or sound modulator associated therewith comprising a oneor multi-part panel of similar transpar- 3 5 g 34/41 1 ent plastic material mounted for rotation about an axis 3626458 1: g z et a 1 parallel to a-drum head and intersecting said shell with 180l422 4,1931 'g 84/410 clearance therebetween and between the panel and 2:485:985 10/1949 Perry .I: :1: 84/411 the head, of heads, of the drum to permit adjustability 3,435,723 4/1959 Corder D 84/411 of the panel into various angular positions relative to 423,060 3/1890 Legault 84/411 the plane of the head in order to modulate the sounds 2,062,515 12/1936- Hoschke 84/374 X caused by playing on said head.

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS I I 3 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures 445,649 4/1936 Great Britain 84/411 PATENIEU FEB I 2W4 SHEEI 1 [IF 3 PAFENTEB FEB I 2l974 SHEETSBFB DRUM This is a continuation, division, of application Ser. No. 103,752, filed Jan. 4, 1971, now US. Pat. No. 3,724,313.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to the musical drum art wherein a cylindrical shell is provided with a head, or heads, with adjustable means for tensioning at least one head in order to obtain the desired musical notes upon playing the drum.

The Davis US. Pat. No. 3,01 9,685, disclosing a musical drum in which the shell is formed in halves of an injection molded plastic, and the Fischetti US. Pat. No. 3,264,927, in which the cylindrical body is closed by a composite sheet, one layer of which is formed of an acrylic plastic, represent prior art known to applicants, but applicants know of no prior art presenting a staisfactory solution to the problem that applicants have solved of obtaining unusual tonal qualities and effects, while at the same time providing a totally transparent drum structure that in cooperation with a novel arrangement of sound modulators of similar transparent plastic material makes possible the obtaining of novel and unusual sound, effects.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION the shell and parallel to and spaced from the head of the drum, or other enclosure, or thedamper-like panel can constitute the closure, itself, for one end of the drum shell.

In accordance with our invention, the damper-like panels, whether made of one, two or more transparent, relatively rigid panels or sections of transparent plastic material, are so mounted about an axis or axes as to be angularly adjustable with respect to the plane of the head. By manual selection of the angular relationship between the damper and drum head, the operator can easily and quickly change or modulate the sound obtained by playing on the drum.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a drum having a seamless cylindrical shell of clear, transparent synthetic resin, or plastic material, thereby obtaining greater rigidity and anadditional aesthetic effect and tonal quality not possessed by drums of conventional designv or appearance and made of conventional materials.

It is a further object of this invention to provide drums wholly made. of clear, transparent, synthetic resin materiaLexcept for the hardware," whereby unusual qualitative as well. as quantitative effects are obtained,-such as enhanced resonance, additional volume of sound and longer drawn-out vibrations, or, expressed differently, slower attenuation.

It is a further important object of our invention to provide a snare drum, which, as compared to a metal BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a drum embodying the principles of our invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the line lIIl of FIG. 1, with parts omitted;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line III-III of FIG. 2 with the sound modulator angularly adjusted relative to the I head of the drum;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a modified form of drum embodying our invention with the axis of the drum in a horizontal plane;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view, taken substantially along the line V-V of FIG. 4, with the sound modulator panels in parallelism closing an open end of the drum;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the line VI-VI of FIG. 5, with the two panels of the sound modulator in an angular relationship other than FIG. 7 is a plan view of a snare drum, with a portion of the snare removed, illustrating a modified form of sound modulator;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the snare drum of FIG. 7 with parts broken and in elevation; and

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line IXIX of FIG. 7, with the two sections of the sound modulator at angular positions with respect to each other.

AS SHOWN ON THE DRAWINGS In FIGS. 1 to 3 the reference numeral 10 designates a seamless, integral cylindrical shell of a clear, transparent molded plastic, preferably an acrylic resin and more specifically a methyl methacrylate resin. The shell 10' is preferably formed as a part of a clear cast acrylic resin tube of indefinite length that has been cut transversely into sections having the length or depth desired in the finished drum shell. Depending upon the dimension of the shell 10 that is desired, the thickness of the transparent resin shell can may vary between about inch and l k inches in thickness. By way of example, if the drum has an 18 inch outside diameter (0d) the thickness of the shell 10 might be about It inch. All of the conventional drum sizes can be produced from clear, transparent resins in accordance with the present invention. Also, as in conventional drums, the drums of our invention are provided with means for tuning the drums, including means for adjusting the amount of tension applied to the membranes constituting the heads of the drum. In FIG. I, there are two heads, 11 and 12 each of which is preferably formed of mylar. Means including rings 13 and tensioning means 14 acting through said rings 13 serve to tension the head, or heads, in a conventional manner. The retaining ring 13, which is preferably made of metal,

provides a smooth rounded outer edge that is free from any obstruction that might interfere with the beating of the drum. Conventional drum sticks are used for playing the drums of our invention.

A sound modulator, indicated generally by the reference numeral 16, comprises a circular disc 17 of a clear, transparent plastic material, preferably the same as the plastic material used in the shell 10. The disc 17 is mounted for rotation about a rod 18 that extends diametrically across the cylindrical shell 10 parallel and in spaced relation to the drum head 11. The rod 18 is attached to the circular disc 17 by means of brackets and fastening means 19, of which a pair are shown. The ends and 20a of the rod 18 extend through and project beyond the contiguous portions of the shell 10 and carry knobs 21 and 21a secured thereto for manually rotating the rod 18 and thus changing the angular relationship between the disc 17 and the head 11. In FIGS. 1 and 2 the disc 17 is shown in parallelism with the head 11, while in FIG. 3 the disc 17 is shown at an angle of approximately to the head 11.

The diameter of the disc 17 is sufficiently less than the diameter of the shell 10, and the depth of the drum between heads is sufficiently great to permit the modulator disc 17 to be turned through a complete revolution. The peripheral clearance between the disc 17 and the wallof the shell 10 is indicated by the reference letter C. in FIG. 2 where the disc is parallel to the head 11 and in FIG. 3 where the disc 17 is at an angle other than 180 to the head 1 1. Because of this clearance, the sound modulator disc 17 can be rotated through a complete 360 and such rotation can be accomplished manually by manipulation of the knobs 21 or 21a, or, if desired, power means indicated schematically by reference letter M can be provided for rotating the sound modulator 16 selectively and at any desired speed. An unusual sound effect is thereby obtained, which can be varied at will by varying the speed of rotation of the disc 17.

' In FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, the cylindrical drum shell is indicated generally by the reference numeral 25. It is preferably made of the same or a similar clear, transparent plastic material as the drum shell 10, but the shell is open at one end, as at 26, while the other end is provided with the usual head and adjustable tensioning means such as those already described in connection with the drum of FIGS. 1 to 3, inclusive.

In the case of the drum 25, the drum is intended to be positioned with its axis in a horizontal plane and therefore with its playing head 27 in a vertical plane.

The other end of the drum shell is open, as at 26, with a sound modulating assembly, indicated generally by the reference numeral 28, positioned near said open end. Said sound modulator assembly 28'comprises a pair of semi-circular discs 29 and 30 of smaller combined diameter so as to provide peripheral clearance at 31 and straight-edge clearance at 32. The semi-circular disc 29 is mounted for rotation upon a rod 33 fixedly secured to the semi-circular disc 29 by fastening means 34. Similarly, the semi-circular disc 30 is mounted for rotation upon a rod 35 mounted on said disc by fastening means 36. The ends of the rods 33 and 35 extend through and project beyond the shell 25, and knobs 37 and 38, respectively, are secured to the ends thereof to effect turning movement of the semi-circular discs 29 and 30. Since the end 26 of the drum shell 25 is open, the two semi-circular panels 29 and 30 of the sound modulator assembly are free to be rotated or turned from the parallel position illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 to any angular relationship including that'illustrated in FIG. 6. Thus, the sound modulating effect can be var- 5 ied in this type of drum structure shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, inclusive, in much the same manner and to substantially the same degree as in the case of the drum structure shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, inclusive.

FIGS. 7 to 9, inclusive, illustrate a snare drum 40 the snare of which is indicated at 41. The drum 40 comprises a relatively shallow cylindrical shell 42 provided at each end (top and bottom when in a horizontal position, as in FIG. 8) with heads 43 and 44, maintained under tension by rings 45 and 46, respectively, and tensioning means 48. The tensioning means 48 may be of conventional structure, as may also be the means 49 (FIG. 8) for tensioning the snare 41.

In the drum 40 the sound modulating means includes a plurality of, in this case four (4) panels, including two stationary panels 50 and 51 at either side, and two rotatably mounted intermediate panels 52 and 53. The panels 50 and 51 are provided with straight inner edges 54 and 55 and with outer arcuate edges 56 and 57 from which depend flanges 58 and 59 integral with the panels 50 and 51 and secured by fastening means 60 and 61 to the wall of the shell 42.

The panel 52 is mounted for rotation about a rod 62, while the panel 53 is mounted for rotation upon a rod 63. Said rods 62 and 63 are provided with means 64 and 65, respectively, for securing the same to the panels 52 and 53 and the rods are provided at their outer projecting ends with knobs 64 and 65, respectively, for rotating said panels 52 and 53. In order to provide freedom of movement, clearance spaces 64, 65 and 66 are provided between the adjacent straight edges of the panels 50-52, 52-53 and 53-51. This permits the panels 52 and 53 to be rotated into any desired angular positions relative to each other and to the stationary panels 50 and 51. As before, the panels 50, 52, 53 and 51 are all made of a clear, transparent plastic material, preferably a methyl methacrylate resin.

In general, all of the embodiments of the sound modulator of our invention can be manipulated to raise or lower pitch by the equivalent of one-third of the pitch of the particular drum absent the sound modulator. Surprisingly, the substitution of a methyl methacrylate resin for the materials previously used in making drum shells, and the absence of any seam or any other discontinuity in the shell, impart a much more mellow sound than when the shell is made of metal or wood. Where the shell is formed of wood, there is a hollow sound that is not present in the playing of any of the drums of our invention. Also, as pointed out herein above, the provision of our sound modulator, embodying any of the forms illustrated and described herein, gives a completely novel sound to our drurns when played, as compared with conventional drums. By rotating the panels of the various forms of sound modulatorsystems illustrated herein, the drummer can obtain unique sound effects that particularly appeal to audienceswho like rock-n-roll music and other forms of modern music.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of thenovel concepts of the present invention. We claim as our invention:

1. In a musical drum having a cylindrical shell and a tensioned membrane providing a complete closure for at least one end of said shell and a surface to be played on, the improvement comprising a sound modulating device within the shell, said device being comprised of a damper-like panel mounted for rotation about an axis intersecting said shell and extending parallel to said closure,

the edges of said panel being sufficiently spaced from said closure and from said shell to provide clearance therebetween and permit free rotation of said panel into various angular relationships to said membrane to thereby change the pitch of said drum.

2. A drum as defined by claim 1, wherein said shell and said panel are both formed ofa synthetic transparent plastic.

3. A musical drum comprising a seamless cylindrical shell of an integral synthetic plastic, a head closure for at least one end of said shell, and a damper-like panel mounted for rotation about an axis intersecting said shell and parallel to and sufficiently spaced from said shell that said panel can be rotated with clearance between said panel and said shell and between said panel and said head closure, said panel being adjustable into angular positions relative to said head closure to vary the pitch of the sounds caused by playing on said head closure. 

1. In a musical drum having a cylindrical shell and a tensioned membrane providing a complete closure for at least one end of said shell and a surface to be played on, the improvement comprising a sound modulating device within the shell, said device being comprised of a damper-like panel mounted for rotation about an axis intersecting said shell and extending parallel to said closure, the edges of said panel being sufficiently spaced from said closure and from said shell to provide clearance therebetween and permit free rotation of said panel into various angular relationships to said membrane to thereby change the pitch of said drum.
 2. A drum as defined by claim 1, wherein said shell and said panel are both formed of a synthetic transparent plastic.
 3. A musical drum comprising a seamless cylindrical shell of an integral synthetic plastic, a head closure for at least one end of said shell, and A damper-like panel mounted for rotation about an axis intersecting said shell and parallel to and sufficiently spaced from said shell that said panel can be rotated with clearance between said panel and said shell and between said panel and said head closure, said panel being adjustable into angular positions relative to said head closure to vary the pitch of the sounds caused by playing on said head closure. 